Dame Judi Dench admits: ‘I’m battling blindness’

File photo dated 21/06/11 of Oscar-winner Dame Judi Dench who has revealed she has been diagnosed with a condition that can lead to blindness.
Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

'James Bond' actress says she struggles to read scripts due to macular degeneration

Dame Judi Dench has said she has no plans to retire despite revealing she is battling to save her eyesight.

In an interview with the Daily Mirror, the 77-year-old confirmed she has been diagnosed with macular degeneration, a condition which can lead to blindness.

The ailment has left the James Bond star unable to read her scripts, meaning she has been left relying on relatives, colleagues and friends to learn her lines.

Dench commented:

I can’t read scripts any more because of the trouble with my eyes. And so somebody comes in and reads them to me, like telling me a story.

She continued: “As long as there is a possibility of working I’m not going to retire because if I retire nothing will work any more and it’s hard enough as it is.”

Dench’s latest role is in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which sees her star alongside Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith and Dev Patel. The film, which tells the story about a group of pensioners spending their retirement in India, is released next Friday (February 24).